Slain Ayatollah Mourned; 2 Iraqis Killed by Homemade Bomb

Thousands of mourners converged Friday on the Shiite holy city of Najaf to mark the 40th day after the assassination of one of the Muslim sect’s most revered leaders, Ayatollah Mohammed Bakr Hakim.

The moderate clergyman was killed Aug. 29 in a massive car bombing that also killed 120 others.

The attack on Hakim, who had urged his followers to cooperate with American-led occupation forces, was a major setback in U.S. efforts to pacify the country.

Despite fears of possible violence Friday, the ceremony in the south-central city ended peacefully. In one of several speeches, the slain leader’s brother, Abdelaziz Hakim, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, demanded that the foreign forces leave Iraq as soon as possible. Spanish troops in charge of the city stayed clear of the event.

In the northern city of Kirkuk, two Iraqis were killed early Friday when a homemade bomb they were attempting to set off exploded, authorities said. Such bombs, dubbed IEDs -- improvised explosive devices -- have been used with greater frequency by fighters opposing the occupation.

Most of these devices are rigged using munitions stolen from the vast supply of military stores that remain in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime.

A U.S. military spokesman said he was unable to confirm reports of a minor skirmish between American troops and resistance fighters near the town of Khaldiyah, west of Baghdad, after a U.S. Army armored vehicle hit a landmine.

Meanwhile, a Polish Defense Ministry spokesman told Reuters on Friday that Polish troops in Iraq had found four French advanced antiaircraft missiles that were built this year. France strongly denied having sold any such missiles to Iraq for nearly two decades and said it was impossible that its newest missiles should turn up in Iraq.

Since early September, Poland, a staunch supporter of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, has led a multinational force in one of four so-called stabilization zones, in central Iraq.

The Roland antiaircraft system that Poland said it found is a short-range air defense missile that is in service in at least 10 countries, including France and Germany.

They are fired from a mobile launcher, and defense experts say the missiles are highly effective against aircraft attacking at low and medium altitude.

Under a strict trade embargo imposed by the United Nations, Iraq was barred from importing arms after its invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

Among others, the U.S., Russia, Britain and France sold arms to Iraq in the 1970s and 1980s. In Iraq’s arsenal were Soviet-built Scud missiles, British Chieftain tanks and French Mirage fighters.

Iraq managed to circumvent the embargo in the 1990s through deals with various arms traders.